Ocean Craft Marine, a purpose-built rigid hull inflatable boatbuilder and maritime solution provider located in Virginia Beach, Va., recently announced it will invest more than a quarter-billion dollars over the next 10 years establishing the industry’s first independent maritime innovation laboratory.
The goal of the laboratory called the Accelerator for Innovation in the Maritime Ecosystem or AIME, will be to enable ideation, collaboration, cross-pollination, and integration amongst and between maritime industry peers in order to accelerate industry innovation especially within, but not limited to, the professional and military segments. The announcement was made at the MARSEC/RBX Conference.
“AIME may be the single most important development in the maritime industry since sails gave way to steam engines,” Roy Nourha, Ocean Craft Marine CEO, said in a statement announcing the establishment of the lab. “Not only will it help us explore and define the future of the maritime industry, it will change the way the industry operates, speeding the process significantly because we will all be choosing collaboration over siloed work, transparency over secrecy, and partnership over the competition.”
Ocean Craft Marine is inviting any and all maritime companies, including its existing partners, associates, and peers, to collaborate in AIME. Ocean Craft Marine also seeks players from other industries who see a maritime application for their product.
“We have long been dedicated to being a solution provider for our professional, military, and recreational users,” said Todd Salus, vice president of operations at Ocean Craft Marine. “This initiative is just the latest way we are driving that mission forward. We are accelerating the innovation process by giving everyone a place to experiment, learn and grow together faster than anyone could do on their own, including the U.S. Military.”
The AIME Lab is part of Ocean Craft Marine’s larger initiative to provide thought leadership to the global professional and military maritime community. Now with AIME, Ocean Craft Marine is available for all professional and military maritime consulting opportunities.
“We work in a collaborative environment and we’re inviting anyone who wants to come play in our sandbox to do so,” said Nourha. “Innovation has been moving at a slow pace. If you make a maritime solution and you’re interested in driving the industry forward, we hope you will partner with us to accelerate innovation.”
